Music I Wished They'd Make More Of...

...And then I found out that they did!

A lot of music made for television is bad. Most of it is just bland. But every so often, you get a theme that captures everything good about the show or that is just plain fun to listen to.

Here's a couple examples to pick your Monday up.

Alphas- Think a slightly more realistic X-Men.

Not bad, right? In fact, it was so popular the artists went back and recorded a much longer version.

Hellsing (the anime, not the so-lame-its-good movie with Wolverine Hugh Jackman in it)- The ending credits of the show rolled to a close with this:

But did you know that they only used part of the song "Shine" by Mr. Big? Here's the full song:

Reading List: War Demons by Russell Newquist

I was honored recently to receive an advance copy of my friend Russell Newquist's debut novel, War Demons

It's the story of Sergeant Michael Alexander who comes home from war in Afghanistan with more than the usual figurative demons. As he tries to piece together exactly what happened over there, he's drawn into the web of a supernatural conspiracy that hits much closer to home.

This was an incredibly fast read. The author slams the action pedal to the floor and duct tapes it there. Despite the frenetic pacing, the major characters all have a lot of color and life in them. Even some of the minor characters, like a maybe-crazy prophet, are interesting and memorable.

There are some rough edges in a couple characters and some of the plot points may strike you as bit improbable, but the ride is so much fun you won't care.

Mr. Newquist has delivered a solid debut work in the vein of early Larry Correia or Jim Butcher. Fans of the latter two authors will devour War Demons.

You can find more of Russell's work, along with a growing list of excellent authors, at Silver Empire Publishing and keep up with his latest news at russellnewquist.com .

Marvel's The Defenders

Here it is, the show Marvel has been building toward for years with their four Netflix series.

Given that those four shows range from amazing to almost-fell-asleep, how did this one fair?

Beware spoilers.

The CW Superfriends: Legends of Tomorrow

Time travel.

It's a fun concept and can be a great peg to hang a plot on. It comes in several flavors:

And they didn't even mention the kind with holograms and Knight Rider sensibilities.

Sadly, it is very easy to do time travel badly. How bad? Let's take a look.

Reading List: Stand Still, Stay Silent

I've spent the last couple of days bulling through the archives for fantasy-horror web comic Stand Still, Stay Silent.

 Set in the near future after the outbreak of a pandemic, the comic catalogs the adventure of a team of misfits sent into the desolation of the Silent World outside the small hubs of civilization to recover lost knowledge.

Written and drawn by Minna Sundberg, it draws deeply on the mythology of Sweden and Finnland. Sundberg's art is beautiful and atmospheric.

Her writing is also great, with a slow steady build of tension and empathy, punctuated by moments of incredible action. Her characters are interesting and her world building is incredibly detailed.

I highly recommend adding this to your reading list. I'm going to have a hard time waiting on the newest episode.

My thanks to Daddy Warpig, who's archival post pointed me to this gem.

The CW Superfriends: Flash

Next up on our trip through the CW Superfriends, the Fastest Man Alive gets his own show.

Don't blink.

Wait. Now I want to see Flash vs the Weeping Angels.

That does not happen in this show. So what does?

Babylon 5: The Sound of the Future

In my recent post on Arrow, I made mention of the good job Blake Neely did making the show's music unique and memorable.

This was on my mind while continuing my run through of Babylon 5 and I realized I hadn't mentioned Christopher Franke's excellent work on the show.

Franke's music is like nothing else on television before or since. In fact, the music was so integral to the show that when Call to Arms, the prequel movie that launched the Crusade spin-off, aired and didn't have Franke's music behind it, the whole thing felt off. It was like a well made fan film rather than a true part of the Babylon 5 cannon.

I highly recommend you take a listen for yourself or better yet go watch the show.

Here's a taste:

The CW Superfriends: Arrow

The second installment of our look into the CW stable of superhero television series brings us Arrow.

What lessons did the studio learn from Smallville? Is any location more overused that Vancouver? Will the CW ever climb out of Pretty, Pretty Valley?

All this and more after the jump.

You've Committed One of the Classic Blunders...

The most famous is "Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia".

Russell Newquist has a short review up of Marvel's Doctor Strange. It's good, so go check it out. I'll wait.

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Back? Okay, we can dive in. Some spoilers ahead.